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motivation

**Yes, I am aware I “borrowed” my headline from the amazing ladies at Another Mother Runner. Click on the link to see what you are missing…it is a website chock full of great stories, tips and links to their hilarious and amazing books.

Well, I did it. My first ever 13.1 mile training run. It took longer than I wanted and I certainly ached more than I expected during it, but I can no longer ask myself “if” I can complete a half marathon. Now I know I can.

4:30am wake up call on Saturday? Must be a runner!

VERY early (5:15am) last Saturday morning, I met up with my running partner and we headed off on long run. Neither of us had a good running week the prior week. We were both battling sickness, me a nasty head cold/chest congestion/sore throat thing and she a stomach virus. So neither of us completed our weekday training runs like we should have. But, like the troupers all us runners are, we set off on Saturday morning determined to at least get some miles in.

The first couple of miles weren’t hard, but it was darn hot out so we stopped for water breaks almost every mile. My running partner had more stomach issues during the run so we kept walking for longer than either of us wanted. With the walk breaks, our legs and feet started aching. However, that eternal struggle that all distance runners know made us keep going. We had to get back to where we parked our cars. So, the last 3 miles we put our headphones in and trudged through. I kept going until my Garmin read 13.10. Man oh man was I excited to see that! Even though my running partner has completed quite a few half marathons and is currently training for a marathon, this was her first 13.1 training run as well.

We had to get to our cars to take us home…to the food!!

Source: Runners World

Once we got back to our cars, the aches and pains subsided into joyous elation that we had done it! We downed a bottle of water each (we had both gone through the 4 8oz water bottles on our hydration belts during our run, summer running in Florida is fun!) and headed home, she munching on a banana, me on my protein shake. What a way to start the day.

I have a confession. I am not a natural runner. I think those of us who discover running in adulthood are, for the most part, not natural runners. If we were, we would have picked up the running bug in childhood, high school or even our twenties. I realized this during my long run on Saturday. As I kept going toward my final goal of six miles each step kept getting harder, each mile more laborious.

Discovering running is a lot of fun. You discover you can run half a mile, suddenly a full mile then on to a 5k and beyond. When you are new, almost every run is a new milestone and a new discovery. It’s not just length of the runs, your speed picks up too. What seemed impossible, becomes the new norm. Being a new runner is a time of unlimited possibilities. I can run a half marathon! I can finish first! Boston here I come!

At some point, the frequency of those milestone runs slow. The speed plateaus and no matter how hard you work, you can’t go much faster. What was a long run becomes a “normal” distance. Your Longest Ever (or LE) seems like the longest you will ever go.

You (like me) have reached a plateau.

And let me tell you…this stinks.

Every run I hope to come back with a familiar huge smile on my face. The “I did something I didn’t think I could do” smile and sense of accomplishment. One of those runs hasn’t happened in a long time. Trust me, my Garmin history will back me up. I want one of those runs where every step is a joy and I feel like I am running on clouds. Where I am not wheezing and wondering if I’m at the next mile, even though I just started the last one.

How do I get over this? How do I break through this plateau and conquer new milestones? I’ve read articles. I’ve tried to take a break. Nothing has worked. Honestly, I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I don’t know if I should just “run through it” or if I should take a longer break. Or if neither of those ideas will help me and maybe I really have reached the longest and fastest I will ever go. Maybe this is where my running journey ends…..

Pfffftttt…I don’t think so!!

Us runners are a positive thinking, “you can do it” sort. You have to be to run, often hours alone, motivating yourself to get to a finish line. No accomplishment is too small, no obstacle is too big. Runners have to have the mindset that they can do anything. I may not be a natural runner, but I have always been a positive person. I know that I will reach a new milestone. I will, once again, have that run that seems effortless. I have to. I have a half marathon in November, so no matter what my LE of 11 miles will be broken. I am starting to do weekly speed work, so I know that even if it increases by only seconds, my speed will increase. I will not only cross that finish line, I will do it with a huge smile. You know. That “I did something I didn’t think I could do” smile.